Little Fockers top US box office

Little Fockers, the third in a series of Ben Stiller comedies playing on the nightmare in-laws theme, has topped the Christmas weekend box office in the US.

Despite a lukewarm response from critics, the flick grossed $US34 million ($A33.93 million) over the three-day weekend, figures from industry tracker Exhibitor Relations and Hollywood.com show.

That was less than the debut of the 2004 sequel, Meet the Fockers, which opened to $US46.1 million ($A46.0 million), but more than the original, Meet the Parents, which made $US28.6 million ($A28.54 million) in its opening weekend.

Oscar-winning brothers Joel and Ethan Coen came in second with their remake of the John Wayne western True Grit.

Jeff Bridges plays drunken, hard-nosed US Marshal "Rooster" Cogburn in the new version of the 1969 classic, which took in $US25.6 million ($A25.55 million), giving the Coen brothers their best ever opening. The filmmakers' previous top debut was Burn After Reading, which earned $US19 million ($A18.96 million) in its first weekend in 2008.

Bridges also stars in last weekend's top film - TRON: Legacy - which captured $US20.1 million ($A20.06 million) in ticket sales in its second weekend, slipping down to third in the rankings.

The sequel to the 1982 sci-fi cult hit stars 61-year-old Oscar-winner Bridges appearing opposite a computer-generated version of his younger self from the original movie.

The original TRON - about a hacker transported into a computer game world - was one of the first-ever computer animated films. It did well at the box office and became a cult for a generation of budding sci-fi fans.

In fourth spot was Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third instalment in The Chronicles of Narnia series based on the classic CS Lewis children's books. It earned $US10.8 million ($A10.78 million).

Yogi Bear, a blend of 3-D and live-action fun, notched up $US8.8 million ($A8.78 million) in earnings to round out the top five.

The mishmash of critical failures and underperforming blockbusters made it a notably lacklustre holiday for Hollywood. It was 45 per cent lower than the same weekend last year, when Avatar was in its second week of release, along with the premiere of hits like Sherlock Holmes and It's Complicated.

"What a difference a year makes," said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com.

"In terms of the big blockbusters, no way can we live up to last year."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian cinemas:

1.Little Fockers, $US34 million ($A33.93 million)

2.True Grit, $US25.6 million ($A25.55 million)

3.Tron: Legacy, $US20.1 million ($A20.06 million)

4.The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, $US10.8 million ($A10.78 million)